Bored with ‘Yellow Beer’

At least that’s the claim of local beer enthusiasts, some of whom call the rise in craft beer “mind-blowing.”

“Even in the last year, the growth has been insane,” said Galesburg home brewer Sam Fisk. “I don’t buy beer a lot because I brew my own, but when I do, I don’t even know what to buy because there’s always so much new stuff on the shelves.”

It seems Fisk and other locals who have noticed craft beer’s climb are not far off, based on recent numbers from the Brewers Association, the country’s largest organization of brewers.

In 2013, the association released data indicating an 18 percent growth in craft brewer volume, with craft beers representing 7.8 percent of the United States’ total beer market.